So what’s the deal with the big, dumb white box atop 55 E. Erie? Why did they cap this new, rather elegant building with a 50-foot-high bunker that further scars Chicago’s signature skyline?
The architects have taken steps to distinguish 55 E. Erie from trailer park high-rises such as Grand Plaza and Superior Place. The skyscraper’s mass is broken up with setbacks and inset bays. The facade is light and open, with a generous use of glass. “This is the old Mies van der Rohe firm,” says architect Gerald Johnson. “We believe in order and structure and large, open glazed areas. We’ve tried to have the building express the owners’ request to have different floor areas and unit areas and various size terraces, and so we tried to make a symmetrical setback all the way up and just keep order to it.”
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“That is not the original design,” Johnson admits. “Originally, there were some open columns and beams …like flying buttresses. That was deemed to be, literally, very, very difficult, and expensive to build as well. We had the building tested in the wind tunnel, and there were all sorts of forces acting on these things. Pretty soon they became almost a force within themselves. We simplified it a great deal.”
Johnson is confident improvements will eventually be made to the bunker on top of 55 E. Erie. “Ownership has said now they want us to study–and we are studying–some different treatment on the penthouse,” he says. But “probably now it won’t be until next spring. It’s very windy up there.”
